Soldering skills (not mine!)

[Starz]

On a scale of one to ten, ten being best, this one is a two.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

A 1 I think.
DIY or 'pro' ?
What might be more interesting is. ....
What is the cause of the bad soldering ? E.g. iron temp too low or not powerful enough etc. ?

I have read that the joints should be smooth and ' spherical.
Is that correct ?

 

[Cafguy]

Hardware store soldering irons and solder! Noooooo....
I'll give it a 2 for effort-- I would throw it out and try again. Give your friend this video:

 

[YVRGUY]

On a scale of one to ten, ten being best, this one is a two. View attachment 172818

I’ve done two leg replacements on some crashed Mini 2’s and these tiny boards are not easy to work on. Besides the rerouting of the wiring and the re assembly of the body after, it is then you test your repair with fingers crossed . The job in the pic isn’t pretty, but if it works after a test flight…then just don’t show your friends the work under the hood . Steady hands, magnifying glass headset, a good soldering iron (fine tip), and some wick is all you require. For first timers…practice a little on a broken circuit board first…it helps.

 

[SethB]

I’d give this a solid 6 out of 10.

The iron is too hot, and the person was constantly trying to get the solder hot and the wire held in place and get the iron out of there way too fast. It’s actually not bad, considering. Almost all of the solder is smooth. There are some burn marks on the board and some melted insulation. There’s a lot of sloppy wire prep. *Maybe* there are one or two cold joints. Hopefully none of the components are burnt.

Better tools for circuit-board level work would help a lot. The right solder (low temp fine), the right fine iron or tip or setting for lower temp, and good stripping and prep work (tinning) for the wires.

 

[Starz]

A 1 I think.
DIY or 'pro' ?
What might be more interesting is. ....
What is the cause of the bad soldering ? E.g. iron temp too low or not powerful enough etc. ?

I have read that the joints should be smooth and ' spherical.
Is that correct ?

Definitely not pro. I wouldn’t even attempt a test flight with this one. Wires weren’t even placed back into their respective holders. Frayed wires hanging away from where they should be. Without knowing what tool was used, can’t answer details.
I will not own anything that says”Weller” ever again. Current tool that I use below.

 

[Cafguy]

I will not own anything that says”Weller” ever again.

Wellers are for plumbers! lol
What you got yourself there is a nice setup The temp adjust is a must have for working on drones.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Current tool that I use below.

That bench is unhealthly tidy ......... where's the clutter and unfinished jobs ???????????

 

[Starz]

where's the clutter

Not letting anyone see that! Clutter kept at a minimum for the benefit of doing what needs to be done and not mess up what is being worked on.

 

[360 Guy]

If that was mine (NOT) nothing would work, but seeing that, I bet everything works 100%. (for a while)

 

[Starz]

(for a while)

Key words!

 

[Kuiper Denizen]

That bench is unhealthly tidy ......... where's the clutter and unfinished jobs ???????????

Yeah…!

This looks like the work space of that guy who got straight “A”s in eighth grade! We all hated him because he made the rest of us look bad.

He probably went on to oversee programs for NASA.

Or worse, repair his drone in less than an hour with no added broken soldering, melted housing, lost screws, and third degree burns.

Oooh how we still envy him through feigned loathing.

(Will he fix my messes?)

 

[waynorth]

Current tool that I use below.
View attachment 172835

I hope you are happy with it, because I just ordered a similar one. Surprisingly inexpensive, around £30 incl. extra tips, flux and solder.

 

[Starz]

I hope you are happy

What I have learned is to turn it off when not needed. I think leaving the weller units on that I had was why they didn’t last. If the next soldering task is more than 1 minute away, it gets turned off. This one does have a sleep feature, but it doesn’t enter that mode for 10 minutes. The heat up cycle from off is not long at all.

 

[Ronny St.]

A 1 or, at best, a 2. It is a very messy job and I wouldn't trust the connections made in this way

 

[ScottTX]

I would give it a 1 or 2 also. I'm an electronic hardware engineer and I've soldering for 50+ years.
I've also had some decent Weller soldering stations throughout the years. But there are lots of good alternatives these days.

 

[Ronny St.]

My score was given based upon personal experience too. I am a ham operator and home-builded numerous electronic projects myself. As a matter of fact, this week I soldered a microprocessor-based system for training my CW (morse) and it works like a charm

 

[ScottTX]

My score was given based upon personal experience too. I am a ham operator and home-builded numerous electronic projects myself. As a matter of fact, this week I soldered a microprocessor-based system for training my CW (morse) and it works like a charm

"a microprocessor-based system for training my CW" Do tell. I learned CW enough to pass my HAM tests, but now I am considering revisiting CW.

 

[BbqJoe]

I'd classify every one of those joints as disturbed, cold or reheated way too many times.
Here, let me show you how it's done.

 

[WaltBen]

I’d give this a solid 6 out of 10.

The iron is too hot, and the person was constantly trying to get the solder hot and the wire held in place and get the iron out of there way too fast. It’s actually not bad, considering. Almost all of the solder is smooth. There are some burn marks on the board and some melted insulation. There’s a lot of sloppy wire prep. *Maybe* there are one or two cold joints. Hopefully none of the components are burnt.

Better tools for circuit-board level work would help a lot. The right solder (low temp fine), the right fine iron or tip or setting for lower temp, and good stripping and prep work (tinning) for the wires.

Absolutely right about the iron being too hot - that's why so much of the wires are bare. I'd hate to see what the underside of the board looks like and I really think you're being too charitable at a 6 - this is more like a 4.